MONOLITHIC deployments of on-premise ERP solutions are on the decline. While many commentators put this down to an enterprise-wide desire to segregate applications into discrete code bundles (in line with the analogous rise of containerization and virtualization), the truth is that cloud architectures are driving change right across the organization.

Key departments in business are especially feeling the pressure to be more agile in their systems and working practices on a daily basis. Foremost among these are enterprise finance functions – the powerhouses which drive the organization. Software solutions which are installed locally or suite-based are no longer fit for purpose; enterprise requires rapidly deployable, scalable, and robust financial management applications which can be integrated with other domains as needed.

Antiquated in-house systems can pose a multitude of day-to-day problems for personnel, such as issues with posting journals or subledger reconciliations. Businesses grow organically, and complex internal structures may not be in synergy with the legacy ERP systems which are ceasing to provide value.

Finance departments are finding themselves under an increasing amount of regulatory pressure, meaning legacy systems may not have the necessary abilities to reflect new national or transnational legislation. Only centrally-updated cloud systems can reflect this changing picture.

The place to achieve a new, proactive deployment stance is in the cloud – and today’s leading technology providers, like Oracle, support public, private and hybrid clouds. Abstraction layers both make the cloud platform amorphous, but also allow rapid changes in scale as dictated by business requirements.

Platform-agnostic cloud financial management applications can be part of a broader cloud-ERP offering, of course, and in the case of Oracle ERP Cloud solutions, Finance departments specifically get revenue, risk & project management capabilities, as well as procurement systems. These functions co-exist with other departments’ deployments in the same cloud space, with integrations and data exchange baked into the solutions’ underlying structures.

The key to this interoperability combines cloud development methodologies (where scalability and ease-of-deployment are givens) along with Oracle’s significant background in business-led architecturing.

A survey which looked at business costs (software, hardware, personnel, and training) over a three-year period, undertaken by Nucleus Research, showed that on average, initial costs for on-premises ERP were 2.4 times higher than Oracle ERP Cloud.

Oracle’s history of financial management solutions, in particular, shows a unique breadth of offerings – some readers will be aware of NetSuite Financials (part of a more extensive ERP suite), for instance – but the company’s experience and longevity were explicitly cited in a recent Gartner survey. Respondents noted the maturity of Oracle’s cloud platforms as a key reason for their satisfaction with Oracle ERP Cloud.

Oracle’s investments in technological, marketing, training and support in the cloud ERP space have positioned it as a clear market leader – the same Gartner survey placed Oracle as a Leader in its “Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises.”

One area in which Oracle leverages new technologies in the cloud is in the inclusion of impactful machine-learning capabilities for Finance departments. With Oracle ERP Cloud, the software can consider payment history to intelligently suggest supplier discounts – this type of value-add gives a real business advantage to users of the solutions.

Additionally, the enterprise can take advantage of the type of tech paradigm which users now come to expect as a matter of course. With built-in self-service for account settlements, mobile bill/invoice presentation, mobile expense entry and automated supplier invoicing, interactions can be mobile, and data flow into the cloud in real time. Finance staff are freed up from repetitive bookkeeping tasks and can be retasked into more strategically-valued roles.

Add localizations for over 50 countries and support for 25 languages, the Oracle ERP Cloud leverages Finance departments’ inherent strategic ability to create business advantage. As the center of the enterprise, Finance departments which are cloud-powered by Oracle can make significant difference to the enterprise.

Oracle has a market-defining vision of how core financial management systems and processes can improve by moving to the cloud. With a strong presence in the market and multiple proof-points of successful deployments by customers, its offerings are used to create and support finance transformation initiatives.

Read Gartner’s compelling evidence for yourself in its Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites report. And to speak to a representative, get in touch today.